Flo Jo Death: How Did Flo Jo Really Die?

Olympic sprint champion Florence Griffith Joyner died of suffocation a month ago after suffering a seizure while she slept.

Medical authorities said the seizure was caused by a congenital abnormality of blood vessels in her brain called cavernous angioma.

The condition allows blood to accumulate outside normal blood vessels in the brain or spinal tissue, and may be found in 0.25 percent of the population.

Once considered rare, it has been detected more often in recent years with the advent of CAT scans and other diagnostic tools.

The seizure apparently struck during sleep, causing Griffith Joyner’s limbs to tense. It possibly wrenched her head to the right as she lay on her stomach, said Dr. Richard Fukumoto, chief of forensics for the Orange County sheriff and coroner.

“In layman’s terms, she suffocated,” Fukumoto told reporters. Explaining the term “positional asphyxia,” he said her airway was probably already constricted by the involuntary turning of her head.

Pillows and blankets on that side further hampered her oxygen supply.

Jo was the world’s fastest woman who had a career that peaked in 1988 when she won 100m and 200m Olympic gold and set two world records – both of which still stand.